Turnbuckle wrench



I Sept. 19, 1944. l, BLANCHARD 2,358,555 D TURNBUCKLE WRENCH Filed July20. 1943 INVENTOR. A! Elfl/VCHARD r9 Train/1) Patented Sept. 19, 1944Irvih H. Blanchard;

Wichita; Kans; assignor to" Beech Aircraft Corporation; Wichita; Kane, a

corporation of Delaware Application July 20', 1943 SerialNo, 495,531". 2Claims: (01281-13 The invention hereindisclosed relatesto wrenches forholding and working on turnbuckles, particularly'as. used on aircraftcables. These turnbuckles are usually located in more orlessinaccessibleplaces, can be reached only through small openings" and, inmany cases. are disposed inan intermediate portion oftthe cable, insteadof being. anchored at. one end,.thus requiring that bothends oftheturnbuckle be held while. making adjustments of the intermediateconnecting portion,

H The objects of the inventionare to provide a wrench particularlysuited. to. such purposes; and which, among other things, will becapable of holding both ends: of a turnbuckle, while. leavingtheintermediate portionvclearv and free for adjustment; whichwill be ofa size and form to readily enter the; inspectionopenings .or' smallspacesthrough which such. turnbuckles maybe available; which can: be;easilymanipulated. to take hold of one or. bothends of the. turnbuckle;which when engaged with. both ends. will. hold itself in place; which:can. be easily snapped'into position or be removed fromasupported.relation on the turnbuckle and-which will. be self-ad justing; inthe=sense ofaccommodating. itself to the set. position ofat turnbuckleand thereafter retaining its hold during adjustments of the turnbuckle.

Other desirable: objects willappear in the course ofthe followingspecification;

The drawingv accompanying and'forming part of. the specificationillustrates. present practical embodiments of the invention; Thestructure however may be further; modified and changed in'various waysall within. the; true intent of the invention; as will be: apparent fromthe scope of the invention. as hereinafter. defined and claimed.

Fig. 1 in. the drawingsis assideelevation of an embodiment of'the'wrench as appliedt'oand in use for. holdingranzr aircraftcableturnbuckle.

Fig; 2; is: anenlarged broken end View on sub stantially the plane of.line 2-2 'of-Fig; 3, with the stem portion of" the turnbuckle screw a'phearing in section. r v

Fig.3 is a broken' detail-off the wrench end ofone wrench lever asviewedfrom the right in Fig. 2-.

Fig. 4 is a side view on a smaller scale of a modified form of theinvention.

Basically the invention comprises a pair of opposed levers 5, 5,pivotally connected together at 6, and carrying at their free ends,wrench sockets I, 1, in opposed relation and adapted to interlockinglyengage endwise over the; angled head portions 8, 8 of the turnbucklescrews ,9,:,9-.

To offset the pivotally connectedparts of the two levers away fromthe-barrel or sleeve Ill coupling the screws together, said levers areshown as angled at llh attheir pivotally con;

nected ends, to form an arch, spaced. entirely;

clear of the-barrel. I p it t N Y A spring I2 is shown. connecting the.spaced. sides of the arched levers andaserving to draw these leverstogether to closethe wrench sockets over the heads of the screws. I

'Ihe' wrench sockets are shown, as having closed outer end. walls; 13,engageable with the outer ends of the-Screw heads:,8, to.-servefiSzSbOpS.

limiting the approaching movement of: the wrench ends,

Engagement of. the wrench sockets over the turnbuckle screwsat theaoutersidesof the. head portions 8, ismade possible by providing; thewrenchsockets with openings inv the; side; and end walls of the same asindicatedv at. l;4, in Figs, 2 and 3. These side openings, are widerthan the diameter of the screw stem. or cable. por:- tions 15, at theouter ends of. theqscrews; but.of less width than the internal diameterl6',..0f the wrench sockets, soas to leave opposedxinwardly extendingside wall portionsvv ll, of; the Wrench sockets, which will grip overopposed sidewalls of the screw heads,.to.holdthe sockets against lateraldisplacement from, the screws.

The; tension of thespring drawing the leversv together willholdthewrench sockets thusyine terlockingly" engaged over the ends of the screwheads, enabling the wrench to holditself. in place and to. accommodateitself to varying; adjust-.- ments of the barrel, once it" has beensnapped into position over thescrew heads. .TO remove the wrench, it is.only necessary to springv it open sufiiciently to. clear the wrenchsocketsof thescrew heads, that. is,.to. carry the retaining lugportions. I.|,7outward.. clear' of the ends; of the head. portions-.8;after which the openings in thesides. of the wrench sockets will permitthe'wrench to move sidewise clear ofthe turnbuckle.

The arched formation of .thelevers provides a lconvenient gripforhandling and. manipulating the wrench and the spacing of the sideportions of the levers by the angled-pivotally connected end portionsprovides ample clearance between the wrench ends for a pin or other toolthat.

may be inserted through the hole l8, for rotating the barrel. The lengthof these side portions is such as to allow for thefree turning of 2 A aninserted tool fully capable of rotating the barrel and this ample spacewithin the arch of the tool, that is, between the levers and the barrelprovides free clearance for manipulating and inserting the locking wirethrough such opening, after the barrel has been turned to the positionof proper adjustment.

In the illustration, the wrench heads at the ends of the levers areshown as'laterally ofiset away from each other by outwardly angledportions l9. These provide a desirable normal spacing of the wrenchheads, while reducing the overall width of the handle or leverageportion of the tool to dimensions which will readly enter a smallinspection opening, such as illustrated in Fig. 1.

wren'ch can be utilized to make sure that both screws are entered anequal distance in the ends of the connecting barrel. The wrench can beeasily engaged, one way, by slipping one wrench socket over the cableand sliding it along until it catches over the screw head at that end ofthe turnbuckle and then while holding the other wrench jaw spread open,engaging the latter over the cable at the other end of the turnbuckleand permitting the spring to then draw in this wrench end into similarinterlocked position'with the screw head at the latter end;

of-the' turnbuckle.

'Disengagement may be quickly efiected by re versal of these actions,

If desired, cooperating stops, such as indicated at 22, in Fig. 1, maybe provided to limit the spreading movement of the wrench sockets. Withsuch stop means, the wrench may be employed for "screw heads at oppositeends of the same, said buckle and arranged with the open ends of thesame faced in opposite directions and in the directions in which therespective levers are spring tensioned,'to thereby yieldingly engageendwise over said angular screw heads, stop shoulders By holding bothends of the turnbuckle, the

at the backs of said wrench sockets for engagement with oppositelyfacing ends of said screw heads to limit the spring tensioning movementof said adjustably connected levers, said wrench sockets having openingsthrough the sides of the same into the angular portions of said socketsholding the end portions of a turnbuckle, for instance, while the barrelis unscrewed and replaced to engage it evenly with both the screw ends,the wrench in efiect thus serving as a temporary connecting member forthe opposing ends of the turnbuckle. Also, if desired, coasting stopssuch as indicated at 23, may be provided at the inside of the levers tolimit the approaching movement of the wrench sockets'to someposition'less than that they would ever normally occupy when holding aturnbuckle of the size for which the wrench is designed.

Fig. 4 illustrates a reversed form of the wrench in which the wrenchheads are faced outwardly and the spring 20 is of the compression type,

engaged between spring abutments 2|, on the levers, at the inside of thearch. The stops 22 limit the extent to which the spring will throwthejlevers open. This form of the wrench can be easily applied by simplypinching the wrench levers together and then after slipping the wrenchheads in-over the shanks of the screws, permitting the spring to thrustthe wrench heads apart until they engage interlockingly over the ends ofthe screw heads 8.

,Various other changes, such as to adapt the wrench to special types ofturnbuckles may be made all within the scope of invention defined by theclaims.

What is claimed is: i i 1 a 1. A wrench for a turnbuckle having angularand of less width than the diameter of said sockets for enablingsidewise engagement of the wrench sockets over portions oflesser-diameter adjoining said screw heads and retaining lugs in theentrance portions of said openings through the sides of the sockets andin line with said sockets for engagement over the side portions of thescrew heads after-the sockets have been engaged endwise over the angularends of said screw heads for removably retaining the wrench in grippingengagement with the opposite screw heads of a turnbuckle.

.2. A wrench for a turnbuckle having angular screw heads at oppositeends of the same, said wrench comprising handle' levers spaced apart theapproximate length of a turnbuckle and having adjustably connected ends,a spring connected between said adjustably connected levers andtensioning the sameinone direction, openended angular wrench sockets onthe free ends of said levers, in substantial axial alignment to axiallycoincide with the longitudinal axis of a turnbuckle and arranged withthe open ends of the same faced in opposite directions and in thedirections in which the respective levers are spring tensioned, tothereby yieldingly engage endwise over said angular screw heads, stopshoulders at the backs of said wrench sockets for engagement withoppositely facing ends of said screw heads to limit the springtensioning movement of said adjustably connected ievers, said wrenchsockets having openings through the sides of the same into the angularportions of said sockets and of less width than the diameter of saidsockets for enabling sidewise engagement of the wrench sockets overportions of lesser diameter adjoin-ingsaid screw heads and retaininglugs in the entrance portions of said openings through thesides of thesockets and in line with said sockets for engagement over the sideportions of the screw heads after the sockets have been, engaged endwiseover the angular ends of said screw heads for removably retaining thewrench in gripping engagement with the opposite screw heads of aturnbuckle.

IRVIN H. BLANCHARD.

